Cal Blacksmith Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Well, I done went and did it! I converted my passive sub (2 8 Pyle driver woofers) into an active sub woofer. It was just too nice of a cabinet to scrap since I converted the satellite speakers to the rear surrounds and too much of a temptation price wise over buying a new subwoofer. I had an extra Yamaha integrated amp (30wpc) laying around so I connected the output from the Sub-out on the AV receiver to a Y adaptor and ran that into the integrated amp in stereo and fed that to the passive sub cabinet. The old crossovers are still in use though there isnt anything connected to the satellite outputs anymore. It was working very well until I put Matrix 3 in and cranked it up! It seems that the woofers were 25 years old (I bought them new) and were suspended with foam. Yep that foam did ok as long as the sub was passive but now that it was being pushed you guessed it, the foam turned into dust! Well I am going to swing by the speaker repair shop today to see what it will cost me to either; 1 put in new foam myself 2 have them put in new foam 3 replace the speaker (though the cone is made of plastic and is in great shape) 4 replace the speakers with possibly 10 speakers There is probably enough room in the cabinet to route out a larger hole and possibly go with a 10 incher. The bass cabinet is divided into two separate sections, one for each channel and is not ported in anyway. Now for my questions. 1 Do I go larger on the speakers? Would 8 to 10 make that much difference? 2 It would cost less to just re-foam the old drivers as they were quality speakers and have HUGE magnates (nearly the same size as the cones!) 3 Do I scrap the crossovers and just let the subwoofers get everything the AV receiver wants to give them? (I am unsure of what the old crossover is rated to cut off at) 4 Do I convert one side of the cabinet to a passive driver and cut a hole through the inside so that they are both connected? 5 Are there other options that I havent thought of yet? Any and all replies are wanted as this is unfamiliar territory with me. I am going to the repair store in about 8 hours, so any feedback is welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 what size in the sub cabinmet, what size are the interior compartments? what does the speaker shop say about reconing (usually worth it)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Wayne, I want to help but I would have to type a book in order to respond thoroughly to your post. I would just get them refoamed, you cannot just slap another woofer in there because each woofer is unique and has specific cabinet requirements based on the T/S parameters. Refoaming a speaker is tricky, it is probably harder to remove the old foam and cardboard trim than it is to put the new foam and cardboard trim in place. I think Orange County speaker repair is in CA and they would be able to do that for you if you cannot find anyone local. It it going to run $50 apiece or more I would buy a pair of the Vifa 25WO 10" woofers they have an FS of like 18Hz. I will email you my work phone if you wish to discuss, just let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 Sorry for the lack of details, I thought I had enough info. The sub cabinet is (from memory) is about 18 inches front to back, 18 inches tall and about 30 inches wide thus the two inside sections are about 16"h x 16"d x14"w. I haven't been to the speaker shop yet (that is after work) but they won't need cones, just the foam suspension. They were very good speakers when new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 Orange county is where I am going after work, they are great people and I have delt with them before. If possible, a phone number would be great, 10 min on the phone is worth a novel in posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted June 5, 2004 Author Share Posted June 5, 2004 I went down to Orange County speaker repair and talked to them. The short story is don't reinvent the wheel, keep the setup the same as it has been, it was engineered that way. They are going to put new foam on the speakers for $50 for the pair and they will be totaly gone through and will have a 1 year gaurantee to boot! I will let you know how it turned out when they come back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 so new foam, what about a capacitor or something to use the sub as active? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted June 5, 2004 Author Share Posted June 5, 2004 Collin, I am open to all ideas. I was going to ask them about keeping the old crossover or trashing it for something else when I went to pick up the speakers. The truth is I know NOTHING about how the speaker/cabinet/crossover relationships work. The old crossovers were made by the place that sold me the speakers twenty five years ago. There are a couple caps and some HUGE CHOKES there but as to how I shold procede from here I was going to wing it, all comments by those who know something about this subject are welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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